Mind the Gap: the divide between Research and Policy

Dr David Smith, Coordinator,Institute for Sustainable Development UWI

Information has to get to policy-makers

Research

POLICY

Here be

Dragons!

Dragons

The Nature of Science Public Understanding of Science

Religion in the Public Square Data Collection, Management and

analysis Governance Opacity The Balance between public good

and private enterprise

How to kill some dragons

Timely access to good relevant research evidence

Research collaborations with policy-makers

Building relationships between researchers and policy makers

Oliver et al. 2014

Governance & Social Capital

Seychelles Grenada Mauritius Jamaica Samoa Guyana

Population 860,00 105,000 1,300,000 2,700,000 187,820 756,000Government spending % of GDP

34 27 26 33 38 31# of 3° education students /100,000

NA 6556 2019 2657 685 1067 Murders per 100,000

8.3 11.5 2.5 52.2 1.1 18.6Corruption Perception Index

4.8 NA 5.1 3.3 3.9 2.5

HDI 0.77 0.75 0.73 0.73 0.69 0.63

Variation of Development in SIDS

Country HDI HDI Rank CPI Rank School Years

Singapore 0.901 9 7 15.4/10.2

Barbados 0.776 59 17 15.4/9.4

Bahamas 0.789 51 24 12.6/10.9

Cape Verde 0.636 123 42 13.2/3.5

Samoa 0.694 106 50 12.9/10.3

Cuba 0.815 44 63 14.5/10.2

Jamaica 0.715 96 85 12.5/9.6

Trinidad 0.766 64 85 12.3/10.8

Dominican Republic

0.700 102 115 12.3/7.5

Guyana 0.638 121 124 10.7/8.5

Haiti 0.471 168 161 7.6/4.9

Transparency and Development

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 2000

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

R² = 0.549416535478132

Corruption Perceptions Index

HD

I RAN

K

Policy failure or Science failure? CHIK V

▪ At the end of October 2014 Jamaica had reported 700 suspected cases, compare to Antigua 1249, Dominica 3745 and Grenada 2826.

▪ As of last week Jamaica 1669, Antigua 1440, Dominica 3598 and Grenada 3070.

▪ Either Jamaica’s management of the disease was the best in the world or there are some problems with the data.

▪ DR 539,000, Haiti 65,000 PR 25,000

(from PAHO http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?Itemid=40931

Data in the public domain

Free information from Government websites NOAA WRA Jamaica Forestry Department

Recommendations

Forge closer technical relationships Government to fund research in

areas it is interested in: Create a Regional Science &

Technology Development FundFunded by Governments (e.g. T&T Green

Fund)Private Sector UniversitiesCaribbean Unis or scientists eligible

Recommendations

Increase the amount of data available to the public

Change data sharing policies so that other Government agencies and academia have full access to data

Improve vastly the communication of research information to policy makers and the public

Thank You